For the second consecutive year, the House of Representatives has made zero allocation to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) even as it approved a harmonised 2014 Budget of N4.695 trillion. The House declined to make any appropriation for the commission in 2013 fiscal year too.
The budget, which was passed at yesterday’s plenary presided over by Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has 12 clauses, one of which bars SEC from expending any money unless approved by the National Assembly.
Clause 9 says: “All revenue however described including all fees re-ceived, fines, grants, budgetary provisions and all internally and externally generated revenue shall not be spent by the Securities and Exchange Commission for recurrent or capital purposes or for any other matters, nor liabilities thereon incurred except with prior appropriation and approval by the National Assembly.”
It will be recalled that the House had in 2012 investigated SEC and adopted a resolution urging President Goodluck Jonathan to relieve the Director General of SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh of her appointment for not possessing the requisite qualification for the position.
The House had placed a caveat that failure to comply with it would lead to zero allocation. President Jonathan has since refused to remove Oteh and the House too lived up to its threat by making zero allocation in the 2013 budget.
The House is still insisting that Oteh must be sacked before it appropriates funds for the commission. Other clauses in the bill as passed by the House include clause 8, which makes it compulsory for accounting officers of Ministries, Departments Agencies (MDAs) to furnish National Assembly, on quarterly basis ,with detailed information on their internally generated revenue.
Similarly, all MDAs are expected to “furnish the National Assembly on quarterly basis with detailed information on all foreign and or domestic assistance received from any agency, person or organisation in any form whatsoever.” The House also makes prompt disbursement of funds part of the law.
“The Minister of Finance shall ensure that funds appropriated under this bill are released to the appropriate agencies and or organs of government as at when due, provided that no funds for any quarter of the fiscal year shall be deferred without prior waiver from the National Assembly.”
Details show that the House passed a similar budget with the Senate approving N1 billion for damages done to public properties and places of worship during the 2011 election violence and civil disturbances; $77.05 benchmark per barrel of oil, N268.37 billion for Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). From the sum, N408,687,801,891 is for statutory transfers; N712 billion is for debt service; N2,454,887,566,702 is for recurrent while N1,119,614,407 is for contribution to the development fund for capital expenditure.
Source: New Telegraph
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